RetroCog

Chapter Ten

Noah felt like shit. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a bit groggy from the painkiller they’d shot into him at the hospital. The drive to Chloe’s hotel was little more than a blur, but at this point, he didn’t care. He sat up in bed, his back against the headboard with Lara by his side. The woman got prettier every time he looked at her. It was all he could do to remember they had a crowd. The bed was so soft and Lara so close…

Chloe sighed. “Noah, pay attention.”

Frank chuckled. “I’d say he is.”

Noah flushed and shifted, wondering how the hell Frank could know he had a hard-on through the jeans covering his crotch. He couldn’t help his constant need for Lara. But having Frank point it out to everyone in the fucking room didn’t help. “Asshole.”

Frank snickered, and Chloe laughed despite the flush on her cheeks.

Lara didn’t smile. “Talk, Noah. What happened in the library that led to that?” She pointed at his arm. At least she didn’t frown at his bruised side any more, since one of the guys at the hospital had offered him a scrub top to wear.

Noah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I keep thinking the past is repeating itself. Cecilia’s been bugging me about it too.”

Chloe tilted her head. “So you’re hearing her now? Not like in a scene from the past?”

“No, it’s definitely the present. Like what Lara hears, I think. Her voices aren’t like yours, Chloe. Lara hears the dead.”

“She hears dead people,” Frank whispered in an overly dramatic voice before he laughed. “Come on, that movie has already been done.”

“That was sees dead people, moron.” Chloe shook her head. “So what’s your take on all this?” she asked Noah.

“Wait, she hears them for real?”

Everyone ignored Frank.

Noah nodded. “I think it’s happening again. Finn’s brother killed Finn and Cecilia.”

Frank recovered quickly. He looked at Chloe. “You know why I’m such a good forger? Because I identify and copy patterns. Ever since I arrived in this one-horse town, something’s been bothering me about Finn’s and Cecilia’s deaths. They started a pattern that’s ongoing. You know about Mike’s and Bill’s mothers dying, right?”

Noah started. “You know about that?”

“Hey, when I find a new town, I learn as much about that town’s law enforcement as possible.” He paused. “What? It makes sense. I’m a safety-conscious guy.”

“Yeah, it makes sense if you’re a criminal.” Chloe ignored the finger he shot her. “So their mothers dying? What about it?” she prodded Frank.

“Finn and Cecilia died mysteriously. Hundreds of years later, the Knowles sisters died in a weird fire. And what do you know, they’re the descendants of Cecilia Fine and Finnegan Fury, who, believe it or not, had a kid they kept a secret. That kid turned out to be a girl, raised by Michael Fury. The girl then married Barnaby Knowles.”

Lara stared. “How do you know all that?”

“Ida Knowles and I became fast friends days after I started working for her. She tells me things. You wouldn’t believe all the info I have on the people in this town.” Frank preened. “After Noah arrived, I went back to her to ask about Cecilia and Finn.”

Noah swore. “Shit, Frank. That would have been nice to know before. What the fuck else haven’t you told us?”

Frank frowned. “Hey, I’ve been digging a lot of this up since you got here. The stuff about the fire I already knew, but when you added another layer to the pattern, I had to get more data to better understand what we’re dealing with.”

A reminder that he’d seen himself as Cecilia’s killer struck him. “Explain.”

“Well, back in 1856, stories say how a stranger rode into town, and the next day they found a girl dead. Then a few days later, Finn and Cecilia died. Before the Knowles sisters died, the authorities found a dead girl in a culvert near the old industrial section. They blamed it on a stranger folks saw passing through. Now here we are. You ride into town, and we have a dead girl.”

Chloe sat in a chair across from the bed. “Oh boy.”

“Damn, Frank.” Noah glanced around the room. “You’re all going to love what I saw in the library.” Resigned to telling the truth, even if he did alienate Lara, Noah had to put her safety before his feelings. “I saw Finn’s brother and Finn in a fight. Michael Fury was shot. He vowed to have Cecilia, Finn’s whore—his words, not mine. Then he shot the doctor who stitched him up.” He studied Lara, seeing in her his future if they could make it out of this in one piece. “But at the end, I saw Michael’s face, and he was me.”

Lara blinked. “No way. You’re Finn.”

Frank shook his head. “Lara, I think it’s time for you to go. Get away from all this. Let’s get you out of town and keep you safe until we figure out what this means.”

“I have to agree with Frank.” Much as it killed him to think of no longer spending time with her.

“No, no. We’ve got interference.” Chloe shushed them when they started asking questions. While they waited for her to explain, Noah reached for Lara’s hand, pleased when she gripped his tight.

Lara smiled at him. “I trust you, Noah.”

Despite everything, all the strange coincidences, Cecilia’s warnings, and his own revelations. The woman trusted him. The remaining wall shielding his heart crumbled and fell at her feet. “Baby, I wanted to tell you this last night. You don’t know how I—”

“It’s got to be Finnegan Fury’s brother,” Chloe interrupted. “He’s interfering in this because you’re close to breaking the pattern. He’s here, like Cecilia and Finn still are. Their energy won’t leave, not until we stop this from happening again.”

“So we’re dealing with not one, but three ghosts. Christ, I can’t believe I just said that.” Frank rubbed his forehead and started pacing. “Cecilia, Finn, and dear brother Michael. But which one of them wants Lara dead?”

Lara spoke. “Cecilia warned me earlier. Beware the jealous lover. Cecilia had a lot of men, but from what Noah said, it sounds like Michael Fury was the jealous lover.”

Frank stopped in his tracks. “So Finn really didn’t kill her after all. Mike did and got away with it.”

“Perfect. Now what do we do with what we know?” Chloe asked.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need a rest.” Noah sighed. “I’m finding it hard to concentrate.” On more than Lara’s sexy body so close to mine. “Lara, go with Frank and Chloe. Don’t leave her alone for a minute,” he warned them.

“No. I’m staying right here.”

“No, you’re not.” Noah glared. Until he knew for certain he couldn’t be the cause of her harm, he didn’t want her around him.

“Yes, I am.”

Chloe cleared her throat. “Need I remind you this is my room?”

Noah and Lara stared at one another, neither breaking eye contact.

Chloe muttered something under her breath. “Fine. Come on, Ian.”

“It’s Frank now, dammit.”

“Frank. You and I have some work to do. Let’s leave the lovebirds while we find Mike Buckman and see what’s he’s really been up to.”

Frank scowled. “But Noah—”

“He won’t harm a hair on her head, trust me. Noah’s not built that way.” She dragged Frank out the door with her and slammed it behind them.

Leaving him and Lara all alone. Finally.

He couldn’t believe he’d almost blurted out loud that he loved her. Noah started to sweat, needing to tell her but feeling as if he’d just had a narrow escape. What if she didn’t feel the same way? The woman was no one’s fool. They’d hadn’t known each other very long. Embroiled in an unsolved murder and possibly targeted by a killer, Lara wouldn’t be receptive to hearing his emotional crap now, would she? For all she knew, he was behind everything. He’d arrived in her life, bringing her nothing but trouble.

Yet she’d said she trusted him.

He didn’t know how to put into words how much her faith meant. His mother had never seen him as anything more than a burden and a freak. He didn’t know his father. The one woman he’d tried to share his life with had freaked out when she’d learned of his ability. In hindsight, his method of proof had sucked. Reciting the list of other lovers Deirdre had fucked, and exactly what she’d done with them, hadn’t been smart, but she’d refused to believe him. When the truth finally sank in, she’d broken a heavy-ass vase on his head and shoved him out the door. The scar remained, though the pain of her distrust had faded in time, if not the memory.

He touched the bandage over his left brow, conscious the wound lay right over his scar.

Lara scooted closer to him. Carefully easing herself over his middle, she straddled him and stared at his head. “Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.” He wondered at this chance he’d been given. Lara knew about him, and she didn’t seem to mind about his ability. Like him, she had her own demons to bear. “Lara?”

“I—” She swallowed hard. “I… Do you like it here?”

He blinked. “In the hotel?”

“No, I mean Brownville.”

“I guess. It’s an okay town when the ghosts aren’t scaring people. The library is going to be one popular place for a while. And hey, the Lady Fine Inn has the best porn in town,” he joked, still a little loopy on the pain meds. If he let himself, he could see the outlines of some sexual escapades against the wall across the bed.

Lara didn’t seem amused.

He blinked away the vision. “I’m just kidding, honey. I really do like your place. I—”

She cut him off by kissing him. The kiss started out soft, sweet. Her breath washed over him like a cottony dream. And then she pushed her tongue between his lips.

He groaned and tried to hold her when she gently pushed him back.

“No, let me.”

Giving in because he was too tired to argue, his body nevertheless responded to her touch.

“You just rest and let me help you feel better.” She lifted the scrub top from his torso, carefully pulling it over his injuries. Then she scooted down and removed his shoes and socks. When she leaned over him to unbutton his jeans, her fingers brushed over that insistent part of him wanting more.

She pulled his jeans over his hips and soon followed with his underwear. She managed to get him naked with little effort but didn’t undress herself.

“Lara?” he sounded drowsy, but as much of his lassitude was from the pleasure leeching his will as from the drugs. “Baby, let me see you naked.”

She removed her top and jeans, leaving her in a lacy confection of silk barely covering her breasts and pussy.

“You’re so fuckin’ pretty.”

She flushed, and he loved this shyness so at odds with her aggressiveness. It took her way too long to remove her bra, and by the time it came off, he ached to thrust inside her.

“Now the panties.”

Toying with the silken waistband, she slowly rolled the garment down her hips to pool at the floor. Lara Graham, a wet dream come to life.

“Lara, please. Come over here and sit on me.”

“No more talking. Lay back and relax. Noah, let me help you.”

He nodded, then groaned when she swallowed his cock. Hot and wet, her mouth tightened around him, stroking up and down as her tongue danced along his shaft. She cupped his balls, rubbing them with tender hands while her lips worked their magic.

He had a hard time breathing when she firmed her grasp on his sac before gripping the base of his cock.

“Yeah, Lara. Damn, that’s good.”

She glanced up at him, bent low with her ass in the air, and sucked hard.

He caught his breath. “I’m going to come if you keep that up.” He groaned and stroked her soft hair, the ends curling around her shoulders and grazing his hips. “You’re so sweet. So fucking fine.”

She stroked his thighs, careful of the bruising along his left side that complemented his torso and arm. His entire body radiated a hungry tension, but one that felt surreal, too perfect to be true. The drugs couldn’t make him feel this good. Only Lara. Pleasure built at the base of his spine, tingled in his balls, and radiated from the center of his body, obliterating the pain from his injuries as if they’d never happened.

“Please, baby. Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

She stroked him all over with her hands, giving him the tenderness he’d never had before. And all the while, she kissed, licked, and sucked him to heaven. When she concentrated the focus of her hands on his hips and ass, her wicked fingers danced closer and closer to his anus. A fingertip rimmed him, and she sucked even harder.

Then her tongue stroked the sweet spot just under his cockhead. He saw stars. The pressure to come flowed from his balls up his shaft. The little witch sucked harder and penetrated his ass with her finger, and he erupted, jetting inside her mouth.

“Yes, yes, baby. Fuck, yes.” He couldn’t help holding her hair, petting her as she sucked what little of his sense remained. “I love you, Lara. God, you’re perfect.”

She didn’t respond, but he didn’t expect her to. Instead he drifted into a perfect place. Surrounded by warmth, comfort, and the woman he never wanted to leave his side.

Lara let him drop from her mouth, saturated with his taste and the feel of him under her palms. Noah had slurred something that sounded a lot like the word love before passing out. Between the drugs he’d been forced to take and that blowjob, the man looked like he’d been given the golden ring. He smiled as he slept.

Had he really said he loved her, or had he said he loved it, as in, her mouth? She wished she knew, but she admitted either way, it didn’t change how she felt about him. She loved him. The large man with intense eyes who saw what others could not. He had a deepness to him, layers beneath layers. Rough, aggressive, tender, yet caring. He wanted to protect her first and foremost. He believed her and believed in her, a rarity in her world.

She’d always been a planner but now had no idea what to do with tomorrow. Her job at the inn remained the same, but everything else in her life had changed. She wanted Noah, wanted to be with him and see where this relationship could take them. But leaving the home she’d made here… Could she do it? Should she?

A small part of her wondered why she had to be the one to change. If Noah really did love her, why couldn’t he move to town to be with her here? She grimaced. Truth be told, Brownville was a perfect little tourist town, but aside from some clever galleries, restaurants, and quaint inns, the local job market wasn’t exactly thriving. And for Noah, it was a town where he’d always be on his guard with the past. Lara had a feeling she’d never be able to look at anyone after this and not think of murder and death. That poor girl had been raped and stabbed repeatedly just days ago in a town Lara used to consider safe.

Noah had mentioned Bend, Oregon, as a place where others like them lived. Psychics who understood what it meant to be different. Sure, Brownville had temperamental artists and the odd kook blending into the diverse environment. But even here, Lara had never felt as if she truly fit in. This wouldn’t be her home; she knew that now. Not because Noah would soon leave, but because she finally realized she’d been looking in all the wrong places for what she wanted.

Acceptance, love, belonging.

A glance at Noah made her feel warm inside. Right now, at least for the foreseeable future, Noah was home. Maybe with his help, she could understand more about the world around her and come to accept her differences, not as a freakish mutation, but as something better.

She yawned, knowing she needed to get back to the inn but unable to muster the energy. After staying up so late last night, then getting up early, she’d just about exhausted her reserves. Frank and Chloe would have to take care of things. And Shelly too, if the blasted girl ever showed up for work again.

Lara visited the bathroom, then checked the lock on the hotel door and secured the deadbolt. After making a quick call to Frank to let him know she had no intention of leaving Noah’s side, she settled next to the big guy and snuggled close to him. In moments, she fell into a deep sleep.

She couldn’t have said how much time had passed when warmth curled in her womb. Her breasts, her belly, her thighs. She blinked her eyes open. Noah lay between her legs and fondled her, his eyes intent on what he was doing.

He flashed her a sinful grin “Good. You’re awake.”

“What are you doing?” Darkness wreathed the room. “What time is it?”

“It’s evening. Frank and Chloe brought us a change of clothes, and Frank’s been working at the inn. No sigh of Buckman yet, but Chloe’s still looking.” He kissed her clit and licked it while keeping his gaze on her. “What you did for me before was incredible. Now it’s my turn.”

“Oh?” She gasped, finding it hard to keep still when he licked her again.

“Yeah. I need to remind you who’s in charge. With or without the busted arm, I’m still calling the shots, sweetheart.”

She tried to twist her hips but couldn’t with his weight pinning her down.

“No, no. You stay right here while I have dessert.”

His mouth took her, consumed her. His lips and tongue, a hint of his teeth, and she teetered on the edge of all-consuming pleasure. She couldn’t deny the connection between them, not even if she’d wanted to.

“Please, Noah.”

He groaned and sucked her harder before letting her go. He leaned up and straddled her waist, showing off his thick length. “This time you’re all mine. Remember the plug, Lara?” He gripped himself with his good hand. “I’m a little bigger than the plug. Time to show me how much you want it.”

Her mouth went dry, and she ached between her legs. Moisture pooled, a need for Noah and nothing else. The forbidden pleasure of the plug would be nothing compared to the discomfort of Noah’s thick cock up her ass. So why was she so excited for him to claim her there?

“You want it, don’t you? Like Cecilia, you need a man deep inside you,” he taunted, his eyes dark.

“Not any man. You.” She ran a bold hand up his tightly corded stomach. “I want you to take me.”

“To fuck you.”

Wicked heat flushed her face, her breasts, and lower.

“Say it, Lara. You want me to fuck you.”

“I want you to fuck me. Please.”

“I don’t have anything with me. I’m going to have to use you to lube me up. That wet pussy will make me nice and slick. We’ll take it slow. I want to watch you while I fill your narrow little ass.” He sounded so mean, so dominant.

She creamed even more.

Noah carefully lowered himself to rest on his elbows and winced.

“Your wrist—”

“Is fine. You think I’m too weak to handle you? Trying to goad me, beautiful? Trying to take charge again?” He lay flush against her.

Expecting him to prod her thighs apart, she started when he took her nipple in his mouth and bit down.

She cried out, and he sucked the sting away. Like before, the pain and pleasure mixed, heightening her responses. He groaned and did it again, nipping her with love bites across her chest.

“I love your tits. So full.” He sucked her other nipple hard, pulling and twisting until she couldn’t contain her gasp. “That’s it. Open for me.” He stuck his uninjured hand between their bodies and stroked her wet clit. “You’re soaked. That’s good, baby.”

His breath sounded as choppy and rough as hers. The hot length of him felt impossibly hard against her belly. In anticipation of him inside her once more, she spread her legs.

“That’s it. Wider. Yeah.” Noah shifted and pushed inside her pussy. All of him driving deep. He fucked her, pounding with heavier strokes until she forgot all about him taking her ass. He stretched her, completed her, made her feel as though she’d finally found the man who could handle her desire.

Before she could climax, he withdrew.

“Dammit, Noah,” she moaned.

“Prop that pillow under you.” He panted. “Now.”

She pulled it under her hips, giving him better access, and bent her knees. Then she waited while he took himself in hand and positioned himself at her hole. He sat there a moment, just looking into her eyes. Then he penetrated her slowly, not stopping as he conquered her inch by inch.

“Push out, that’s it.” He kept going. “I love you, Lara. All of you.”

The emotion in his eyes as he took her promised what she’d been craving her whole life.

“I belong with you.” She meant it, every word. “I love you, Noah.”

He groaned and seated the entirety of himself inside her. His balls rested against her ass, the fullness so overwhelming, she could do nothing but feel.

“You’re mine. Always.” He pulled out with care, then slid back inside her again. The agony on his face as he loved her shoved her need into overdrive. “Touch yourself while I fuck you. Do it. Come with me, and fast. I’m not going to last inside you. You’re so incredibly tight.”

Like a piston, his hips moved in and out, building greater speed. The slap of his balls against her added to the intensity. His gaze never left her face until she fingered herself, then his thrusts turned jerky.

“Oh fuck. I need to come. Come with me now, Lara. Baby, do it,” he ordered through gritted teeth.

He didn’t need to demand what her body intended all along. She spasmed and clenched hard, feeling empty yet full as he pounded into her ass. The climax eased her, tying her closer to the man she couldn’t stop touching.

He tensed and shuddered, moaning her name. She held him around the waist, needing more time, more Noah, before the rest of the world intruded.

“Oh yeah.” He sighed and gently withdrew.

She winced, suddenly feeling his girth, when before she’d been too aroused to notice the pain. “That’s going to burn.”

He smiled, the dimple there in his cheek. “But in a good way, right?”

“Yeah.” She groaned. “I don’t want to move ever again.” But she needed to, because he’d made a mess inside her. “I have to get to the bathroom.”

“No problem.” He rose and tugged her to her feet using his good arm. After walking her to the bathroom, he waited outside. “Hurry up, because I need you again.”

She shut the door. When she’d finished, she let him back in and nudged him into the shower. She turned on the hot water and stepped inside with him. “I don’t think you’re supposed to take that bandage off for a while. You shouldn’t get it wet either.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She poked him in the stomach. “Smart-ass. I guess you’ll just have to keep your arm out of the water and let me wash you.”

His start of surprise turned into a devilish grin.

Had she ever seen him smile so much? Her heart lay completely at his feet. “I’d better be careful not to make you too happy. I don’t want other women looking at you.”

He gave her a mock frown. “So I’m not handsome when I’m frowning?”

“No, you’re just mean. And hot. But when you smile, God, I can’t look away.” To her shock, he flushed, and she laughed. “Shy, Noah?”

“Cut it out.” He tried to grab the soap, but she wouldn’t let him.

“Uh-uh. Now hold still and let me clean you up.” She paid careful attention to his injuries, not happy when he hissed under the hot water and soap. Wanting to give him time to recuperate, she massaged his muscles with her soapy hands, content when he sighed his pleasure. Finally, she shifted her attention to his mouthwatering cock. She needed him nice and clean for what she had in mind.

Her ministrations aroused in him in no time.

“Remember, I’m injured,” he feebly protested when she dropped to her knees. A glance at him showed a sparkle in his eyes. “I can’t use my hand.”

“You don’t need to. And neither do I.” She opened her mouth and took him in. Absorbing the scent and taste of him while water sluiced down his solid frame.

“Oh yeah,” he rasped. “You’re definitely in charge.”